How to create a long-term PE plan

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Sammy Rayner
Long-term PE plan
6 September 2021

How to create a long-term PE plan 

One of the most common questions we are asked is ‘Is there a specific order in which we should teach different activity areas?’ The simple answer is – no! You have free reign to pick and choose how your pupils experience PE and how they learn and develop.

With any subject, planning is key to ensuring children meet all the objectives and hit the planned milestones as they develop their confidence and skills. Planning your PE lessons is no different. As a teacher, specifically the PE Leader, you need to choose what you would like your pupils’ to learn depending on their age, ability, and school local facilities and go from there.

Specifically here at The PE Hub, we are asked if our wide range of activities should be taught in a particular order, but there is no specific order in which you should teach any units, other than we suggest you lead a Unit 1 before Unit 2 as all units are progressive in this way. This will usually be the case for other PE Schemes of work.

So, let’s get into how you can use The PE Hub resources to create a broad and balanced, long-term PE plan.

What is a long-term PE plan?

Every year, the Government allocates a certain amount of money to each school to facilitate PE. Your plan should show progression, development, and continuity of learning and provide evidence of how aims and objectives will be achieved. It is a working document that can be updated and amended at any time and should be regularly reviewed.  You should also plan for any unforeseen circumstances such as:

  • Staff illness or absence
  • Loss of PE area to building work or improvements
  • Purchasing new or specialist equipment
  • Outsourcing venues such as a sports hall or golf course

What should be included in a long-term PE plan?

PE is unique as there is so much variety in the units available. As a teacher, you should consider what can be realistically included in your long-term PE plan and try to include a range of activities throughout the term. Be clear on the needs of your pupils. Our units are designed to be flexible and tailored to your school’s individual circumstances. No school is the same and units should be taught with needs of the pupils and the key stage curriculum in mind. You can find examples of our PE units and lessons plans here.

All you need to decide is, which units will you teach first?

Showing progress 

Your long-term PE plan should be supported with skills progression information that clearly conveys how the children will be meeting their objectives. PE is more than physical activity. It builds confidence, emotional strength, and social skills to name a few. In this example skills progression document (see below), we provide an example of how we use the ‘Head, Hand, Heart’ system to showcase how children are getting the most out of each unit.

Skills Progression

Click here to download an example Skills Progression document

Subscribers to our modern platform can access an updated version of this resource - please book a demo if you want to find out more about our range of updated resources.

How to create a long-term PE document

When you’re getting started with a long-term PE document, you should consider the best way to present it and share it with the rest of your staff.  You can then transfer your plan onto a final document ready for editing and distribution. At The PE Hub, we have a specific curriculum planning tool that you can use to create your long-term plan and share it with all teachers and leadership teams.

The PE Hub's curriculum maps tool

Click here to view our Curriculum Mapping Tool

Share your PE plan with others

Once you have your long-term PE plan ready, share it with your colleagues so they know what is expected and help them plan their lessons effectively. A long-term PE plan will also provide valuable guidance in the event of staff illness or absence, so any temporary or long term cover staff have a clear plan that will keep children on track with their physical education.

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Our plans are designed to suit every size of school. We have annual and discounted three-yearly payment options.